MORGANTOWN — A group of kids from the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) toured the Monongalia County Ballpark this week.
The tour took the kids behind the scenes, where many West Virginia Black Bears fans don’t get to go.
Leighann Sainato said that tours are open to whoever wants to see the stadium, but it’s usually businesses that ask to explore the ballpark.
“Mostly we give stadium tours to anyone actually who requests it,” Sainato said. “We take them around the stadium; we show them places where they’re probably not familiar.”
When the team is away and the facility is empty, it allows more opportunity to share with the community each part of the stadium. Sainato said even in the off-season, the ballpark does not close.
“It’s really just to give people a better view of what actually goes on at the stadium, especially when the players are gone, because it still functions as a facility even when there’s nothing going on here,” Sainato said.
Sainato said that the age group they catered to Tuesday is much older than the regular age they give tours to.
“The last several tours have been mostly kindergarteners,” Sainato said. “We actually haven’t had a group of kids this old before so I am interested to see what questions they have.”
The Monongalia County Ballpark is used by the WVU baseball team as well as the Black Bears, which is in the New York-Penn League and an affiliate to the Major League Baseball team the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The NYSP started in partnership with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers many programs, including free swimming lessons, transportation and assistance for children with disabilities. This year the program is celebrating 31 years at WVU.
